‘Cloud Atlas’ is six films woven into one framework

There’s a lot going on in “Cloud Atlas.” Six different stories all tell variations on the same theme. There’s a Pacific Ocean historical drama set in 1849; a musical coming-of-age drama set in 1936 England; a 1970s San Francisco Big Establishment vs. plucky journalist mystery; a 2012 British situation comedy featuring old folks; an anime-inspired futuristic story of disposable people set in 2144; and a dystopian future where the new and fantastic mix with a regressed primitive society in 2321.

The primary actors – Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon – all play multiple roles, up to six per actor. The roles can be male or female, or any of a dozen different races. And while Hanks is easy to pick out, the same can’t be said for all of the roles that his co-stars play.

But don’t concentrate on who is playing in this scene. Concentrate on the stories and how they start to interlock together. If you can focus on that, then you won’t be bothered by the shifts in time. And (hopefully) you’ll be spellbound, as I was.

Note: I had to look up the titles of the stories on Wikipedia, which has an excellent entry on the film. And there be spoilers ahead, so skip to the end if you don’t want to know.

The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing (1849): Adam Ewing (Sturgess) is a young lawyer tasked by his father-in-law (Weaving) to conclude a business arrangement in the Chatham Islands. He falls ill and is attended by Dr. Henry Goose (Hanks), who has some ulterior motives. He advocates for the Maori slave Autua (Gyasi) after he finds him stowed away in his quarters.

Letters From Zedelghem (1936): Robert Frobisher (Whishaw) is a young bisexual English musician who takes up the position of amanuensis to the famed composer Vyvyan Arys. He’s working on his own piece, titled “The Cloud Atlas Sextet,” and his story largely follows the narration of letters to his lover, Rufus Sixsmith (D’Arcy).

Half-Lives – The First Luisa Rey Mystery (1973): Rey (Berry) is a journalist for a San Francisco newspaper when she meets an older Sixsmith (D’Arcy), who is now a nuclear physicist. He tries to tip her off to a plot involving a new nuclear reactor and it’s safety, but is killed by an assassin (Weaving) before he can give her the file. She meets another scientist (Hanks) at the plant, who gives her a copy of the file, but he is killed and she is targeted for assassination herself.

The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish (2012): Cavendish (Broadbent) is a small-time British book publisher who gets an unexpected windfall when one of his clients (Hanks) murders a book critic who gave his book a bad review. But when the client’s brothers show up looking for their share of the profits, Cavendish turns to his brother, who sends him to a “hotel” in Scotland that turns out to be something a bit more insidious.

An Orison of Somni-451 (2144): In Neo Seoul, a genetically-engineered fabricant (Bae) is being interviewed by an official (D’Arcy) before her execution; he wishes to know how she was released from her captivity and became a member of a rebel organization.

Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After (2321): Zachry (Hanks) is a member of a tribe of hunter-gatherers on an isolated island. They have a low-level war going on with a rival tribe, the Kona, who are cannibalistic in nature. Meronym (Berry), a member of an advanced society referred to as “Prescients,” comes to Zachry’s village, seeking a guide to take her to the top of the local mountain, the idea of which strikes terror into the villagers. After Meronym saves Zachry’s niece, he agrees to take her to the mountain.

Extras: Like other Warner Bros. releases, the series of featurettes are called “Focus Points.” They can be accessed while watching the film on BD, or separately. I prefer to watch them separately. The DVD only has one Focus Point: “A Film Like No Other,” which interviews the primary cast, co-directors Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski (the creators of “The Matrix”) and Tom Tykwer, and “Cloud Atlas” novelist David Mitchell. The BD has six more Focus Points, all of which delve deeper into the difficulties of bringing such an ambitious project to the screen.

I’d not heard of the book until I saw the trailers for the film. It looked interesting, but there wasn’t anything compelling me to go to the theater. In fact, the film’s nearly 3-hour running time helped me decide that I’d rather watch it at home. Roger Ebert’s film review also convinced me of that, because he claimed it was a film he wanted to see multiple times, noting that “it fascinates in the moment.” He was right. I may not get to it again tonight, but I will get to it again soon.

Quentin Tarantino is famous for playing around in the time frame for his films; but never on this scale. There’s no title cards or “Star Wars” slow fade to let you know you’re time-jumping. Yet I always knew where I was because the film had gone to great lengths to establish the look of each time period.

Bottom line: The time-line jumping might put off some viewers. It takes six stories, all following arcs that we’ve all seen in films before. But it’s the ambitious mesh into this big canvas of a film that makes it new and unique. This is definitely worth a rental, but I think you’ll find yourself buying it just so that you can study it at your leisure.